Magic
by KebbyElizabeth
Summary: "That was Giles," she said. "The council found a way to find out who will be called if I die – or Faith. She… the girl is here in Sunnydale." "The council are going to try and kill us"
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Okay, new writing style, with an actual thought out plot! It's like the end of the world (see what I did there? Because it's Buffy, and… no? Okay) just tell me what you think? It's kind of set at the end of Entropy with relationship statuses, but doesn't follow the canon episodes afterwards, it references some earlier ones, but again isn't exactly canon. Spike and Anya haven't slept together, mainly because I need Buffy to be somewhere else at the start, but otherwise, canon relationships stand to begin with. Review please, whether it's just to flame, I don't mind.**

The alleyway was black. It was hard to penetrate the darkness with only your eyes but it was little trouble for the slayer. Hypersensitive eyesight had its upside when you were following the sounds of a demon feeding down a dark gully full of cardboard and inanimate objects just waiting to trip you up. Buffy kicked off the ground to land cat like and silent on top of the bin, keeping her eyes trained on the back of the vampires head.

"Hey little girl," the soulless creature crooned. His victim lay unmoving on the floor, Buffy had to feel sceptical of the vampire's sanity – he was trying to have a conversation with someone unconscious after all. "Got a pretty neck there honey, mind if I taste?"

At that moment the slayer's foot slipped on something green and all too unpleasant that coated part of the bin lid, it made a scratching sound and she held her breath in anticipation of the creature hearing. The vampire didn't turn around. Buffy dropped quietly from the bin but kept one hand on the hidden stake inside her jacket. There was no dirt on the demons denim coat, or in his fluffy brown hair. His shoes were scruffy trainers, and his jeans were ripped, Buffy knew he wasn't freshly raised. It was what passed for a nice surprise, when the vampires were stupid enough to enter Sunnydale, knowing that this was her place.

She tapped him lightly on her shoulder with her free hand. "Excuse me, sir, I think I'm lost."

The vampire turned round, his brow morphing into him demonic form. "Get lost girl, I'm not a dessert kind of person."

The look of confusion when she didn't run away or looked scared or even mildly shocked was sort of comical when you added the oversized teeth and movement restricting lumps. The blonde had to smile at it, but she soon turned serious again when she remembered the girl on the floor.

"Me neither, never really was a sugar type person," she said brightly.

The demon turned the rest of his body around so he was completely facing the slayer, a look of absolute disbelief plastered over his face. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure his dinner would remain there until he had disposed of the annoying blonde, and gave her an affirmative kick in the head to make sure. Buffy grimaced as his foot connected but didn't move to intercept because in order to reach the victim she would have to reach around and turn her back on the vampire.

"That's not very nice, didn't your mother teach you not to play with your food?"

"She couldn't," he growled, turning his full attention to the slayer. "I ate her."

With that the slayer lashed out and slammed the heel of her hand into the vampire nose. He flew backwards and crashing with a sickening crunch against the brick. In seconds he was back on his feet. A low growl emitted from his chest and he charged, arms held out with full intent of throttling the little blonde girl.

She side stepped easily and placed her foot just in the way to unbalance the demon. The stake almost flew into her hand and as she span round to complement the vampire's movement it was brought down in a large arc. Over the years the slayer had acquired an incredible aim and the stake hit its mark with nanometres to spare. The demon grunted and, with a small poof, disintegrated into dust that was indistinguishable from the dirt on the floor.

Buffy brushed her jacket off quickly, grimacing as it got caught under her fingernails, before turning to the body of the innocent on the floor. Long dark hair concealed most of her face. There were two long tares in the girl's shirt but she seemed unhurt otherwise. Well, other than the large bump she would have on her forehead in the morning.

"Can you hear me?" The slayer asked tentatively. She knelt by the side of the girl and brushed the hair from her face, but it didn't help her to recognise her. The girl groaned but didn't open her eyes. Buffy knew she would have to be taken to the hospital and the only way she was going to get there would be if she carried her there, since she had no phone and the Sunnydale emergency services were far from perfect.

She slotted the stake back into her jacket and eased her left arm around the girl's shoulders and her right under her knees. To the slayer the girl weighed practically nothing – to anyone watching the sight of the slight slayer carrying a woman who weighed the same if not a little more than herself would have looked odd at the best of times, but it was the way she did it with absolute ease that could really make people feel uncomfortable.

The journey to the hospital was a quick one, the graveyards had become second nature to her and she could get to any point of the town within a few minutes. She dropped the girl inside A&E but slipped out before they could ask any questions of whom she was or why she was carrying an unconscious girl.

She thought about tracking down Warren, Jonathon and the other one, but she wasn't sure she had the energy to deal with their pain-in-the-ass-ness. The three of them were really getting on her last nerve, and at the moment, her last nerve was begging for a day time butt-kicking over a midnight one.

A clock in the hospital told her that it was just after midnight, and her aching muscles confirmed the need to go home. Buffy could never understand why small innocent girls always chose night time to travel alone. It wasn't like no one knew what went on here at night. She shook her head, it didn't matter, and she was always there to save the day in the end.

/\/\

"I've decided something," Willow mumbled into the blankets. She was woken by the light filtering through a gap in the curtains, and she was unquestionably annoyed about it. When she didn't receive a reply she lifted her head, no way was the other person sharing the bed allowed to sleep when she had been so rudely awoken by the sun. The red head poked the covers where a person shape hump was breathing steadily. "Hey!"

The lump moved and rolled over. A very sleepy Tara cracked one eye open and raised an eyebrow. "What have you decided?"

The ex-witch returned to her face down position and began to explain. "I don't like mornings."

The brunette grinned sweetly, amused by her girlfriends declaration. "That isn't exactly a new decision darling." She rolled back so she was facing the ceiling and closed her eyes fully again. Sleep had ebbed itself away but she still had no desire to get up and put clothes on. Willow shuffled across the bed and rested her head on her chest, curling her body tightly around her soul mates and throwing a leg possessively across Tara's hips.

"I know," she sighed. Willow tangled her hands into the red bed clothes and made her-self comfortable before the visible evidence of a thought process flashed across her mousey features. "Tara did you hear Buffy come in last night?"

The brunette opened her eyes fully and looked down at her almost naked lover - the red head's stripy socks were stroking her leg beneath the covers – and furrowed her brow. "I didn't, but we were kind of… urm busy." She felt rather than saw Willow grin, but it still made her heart melt. The magic had torn her away from this girl but now that she was back, there was nothing that would tear them a part – she would swear her life on it. "Do you think something happened?"

"No, it's just kind of a feeling, it's probably nothing. Maybe you should go check anyway."

Tara snorted and her eyebrow disappeared under her hair line. "Me?"

The red head nodded and raised her head to gaze at the brunette. She knew with shameless glee that the puppy eyes could get her lover to do almost anything. "I don't want to get up."

"Oh is that right," the brunette said innocently, but with a somewhat evil smile spreading across her face. The sight made Willow's eyes widen and the puppy effect was lost to breathless gasps when Tara's fingers attacked her sides and the tickling torture began. "Because… I think... that it should… be you… who gets up." She laughed, pausing periodically to dodge the red head's futile attempts of a counter attack. All thoughts of the strange wakeup call dissipated into fits of giggles.

In minutes the pair was thoroughly tangled in the crimson sheets. Willow was trapped with her arms pinned to her sides underneath the brunette, and she was finding it hard to breathe from laughter. "Okay! Okay! I give! I give!"

Tara continued for a few more seconds before relenting and letting her girlfriend up. The red head had gone red faced and coupled with the red sheets made a sight that caused the brunette to begin giggling all over again. Willow was breathing heavily with the look of revenge in her eyes but she honoured her loss by throwing the bed sheets back and swinging her legs off the bed and into the bone chilling air.

"Hope you learned your lesson," Tara smiled, her features returning to their innocent butter-wouldn't-melt-in-my-mouth look.

"I let you win," the sore loser in Willow grumbled.

"Right," the brunette nodded. She settled herself back onto her re adjusted pillows and watched with obvious interest as the red head bent over to retrieve discarded clothes from the floor. Willow's cream coloured skin on show to the world, it amazed the brunette sometimes just how confident the red head had become – even if she knew how she would dive for cover and flush scarlet if anyone entered the room.

Tara lost herself in studying the body she knew so well, she didn't notice Willow glance over her shoulder. "See something you like?"

The brunette snapped back to the present and smiled sheepishly. "Maybe."

/\/\

Dawn Summers was not a small girl. She was now taller than her sister even though she was a few years younger than her; however this seemed to have little effect on the way she was treated by her mismatched family. For the seventh time that morning she yawned, blowing large amounts of air over her half cooked pancakes. There had been a brief moment of consideration to ask Willow to make them for her, but she had been upset the day before and the dark haired Summers felt she was doing a good deed by letting the ex-witch sleep in.

She yelped when she touched the pan with her fingers. It brought the memory of when she had made that combination of banana and peanut butter – the day Willow really lost it. She shuddered.

"It's the way you love me…" she sang to herself. The song was lame, she knew, but there was something about romantic songs that had a little soft spot in her heart. "It's perpetual bliss…" She even wiggled her hips to her imaginary music, her fluffy purple dressing gown twirling around her legs.

"Dawnie? Is that you?" Willow called from the hallway.

The teenager smiled good morning when the red head popped her head round the door. "I thought you were sleeping."

"I was…" Willow's eyes widened and she caught Dawn by surprise when she dashed into the kitchen and snatch the pan from her hands. The red head began frantically flapping at the brunettes arm.

"What the…" Dawn looked down to see orange flames licking the edges of her sleeve and mirrored the ex-witch's movements of flapping her arms. The fire died easily and Willow turned the stove off with one hand and placing the pan back on top with the other.

The red head picked up the expelled pancake from the floor and watched Dawn with a curious look. "Let's not tell your sister."

"Let's not tell me what?" Buffy asked suspiciously, making both of the girls jump four feet in the air. Dawn clasped her hands in behind her back and looked at the floor while Willow span round and played her puppy face. The slayer looked at them unconvinced. "Dawn…"

The girls swallowed and laughed nervously. "Nothing, honest," they said in unison.

"How was slaying?" Dawn asked.

"Kill any evil nasty's?" Willow added.

Buffy crossed her arms over her chest, but decided to drop the matter for the moment.

"Saved a girl's life, the usual – though the vampire was from out of town. He did one number on her before being a good soulless creature and getting himself killed," she paused. "I didn't recognise the girl either."

"There are a lot of people in this town, you can't be expected to know everyone – you're not that popular," Dawn snorted, unimpressed by the run of the mill staking.

The oldest Summers glared at the teenage but her eyes were drawn to Willow. The shirt that she had chosen to wear that morning looked vaguely familiar, she'd seen it before, but not on her best friend. She scanned through her memories but couldn't place the shirt, she knew Willow hadn't just gone out and bought it because there was the stain on the sleeve that she defiantly recognised.

"Willow, whose shirt is that," The slayer asked. "I don't think I've seen you wear it before."

Until that moment Dawn hadn't really registered what clothes Willow had had on, but when she looked down she had no trouble remembering who owned that shirt. "That's Tara's shirt. Why are you wearing Tara's shirt? Is she here? Did you keep it when she… no she took it with her, I remember! She's here, isn't she?" By the time Dawn had finished speaking she was practically vibrating with excitement.

The red head raised her hands and took a step away from the excitable teenager for fear of having body parts removed if she didn't fess up to her night time guest. Buffy smiled knowingly – it was great that Willow and Tara could finally work things out, the small red head had been miserable and it showed that some things can be alright in the end. Some people are just meant to be together, and the pair was the kind you could see and just know.

She wouldn't go so far as to call them her light at the end of the long dark tunnel, last time that had ended in a disaster that she was sure no one was eager to repeat, but it gave the Scoobies much needed hope and spark of happiness.

"She came over last night," Willow grinned, interrupting Buffy's thoughts. "I was catching up on some work and she came in my room and…" she trailed off as a dreamy expression bloomed on her face. Buffy couldn't stop a grin from appearing. "She's upstairs now, in our bed, I came to see if you'd come home."

Dawn disappeared from the kitchen the moment Willow finished her sentence without a word. The older woman could hear her charge up the stairs and the opening and closing of doors.

"You know she's not going to leave her alone now," Buffy stifled a giggle as she stared out of the kitchen door.

Willow shrugged. "She'll be back down in a minute when she sees…" she paused when a realisation of what was waiting upstairs made itself known. "Buffy, Tara's kinda naked."

It took a moment for the words to sink in because the slayer hadn't really been paying attention. She had noticed the scorch marks on Willow's sleeves and on the floor and instantly knew it had something to do with the thing that they weren't going to tell her – however her eyes widened in shock when Willow's confession clicked inside her mind. "Dawn!"

/\/\

"What do you mean you lost her? She was sedated for Christ's sake!" the man roared. He paced back and forth in front of his desk, occasionally turning his head to glare at the other three people in the room. "No one gets hit with that much Phenobarbital and walks away!"

He scowled at the three people standing before him. The small weedy man's hands were shaking from fear and he dropped his pen on the floor twice before slipping it into the pocket of his jacket. His name was Mark, and he was mostly useless – unless you needed someone to yell at. However the large woman next to him handled all paper work that came with any 'guests' they had in the facility. The third was a tall man was uneasy and had his hands clasped behind his back, his eyes flicking from the papers in the woman's arms and to the man's face periodically.

Mark stepped forward tentatively and raised a shaking hand. "She didn't so much as walk away… more like teleported."

"Teleported? She doesn't have that power. You better bloody well find that girl, or that hell hound downstairs might get a little hungry."

"There's no way to find her unless we have a record of her magical trace – which we don't – or even a clue as to where she might turn up," the somewhat plump woman argued.

"This is going to ruin the plan!" Mark yelped, fidgeting nervously and shifting his weight from one foot to the other and back.

"Not if you find her," the man growled. He turned his attention to the last man. "I know you know something about this."

The last man remained quiet, his mood had somewhat darkened by the mention of a plan – not that anyone noticed. They were far more concerned with the disappearing girl. It was the first time he had heard of a plan, any plan and it worried him. But he was sure as hell going to find out. He took off his glasses and cleaned them habitually on the white handkerchief in his pocket before placing them carefully back on his nose.

"Get Alexandria," the man fumed. "Find that girl."

/\/\

Tara watched with eyes as wide as saucers as Willow's bedroom door clicked shut behind Dawn. When she had heard someone skipping down the hall she had assumed it was Willow and had made little attempt to cover up while raiding through the drawers for clothes. It had made both girls squeal and the witch didn't know she could move as fast as she did when she dove under the bedcovers. She was pretty sure the teenager had gained some new mental scars.

Without leaving the bed she used her foot to hook a discarded t-shirt from the floor, along with underwear and jogging bottoms, and dragged them into the covers with her. She pulled them all on in seconds but didn't get up. Familiar scents encircled her nose and her body sunk into them subconsciously – she didn't notice the door open again.

A tiny smile etched itself onto Willow's face when she saw Tara hug a pillow. She had missed her girlfriend, more so than she had even realised. When the brunette had come into her room it was like she had released a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"I saw Dawn's face when I passed her on the stairs – I think you broke her."

Tara started but relaxed instantly when she recognised who it was. "I thought it was you."

The smaller witch grinned and shut the door. Tara waited until the red head was within inches of the end of the bed before moving and meeting her, pressing her lips lightly on her lovers. Willow leaned into the simple touch. There was no urgency in the kiss, just love – but there was no hurry to end it.

"Buffy," Willow said between kisses. "Downstairs… Dawn… Fire… Floor."

Tara pulled away but they stayed within a few millimetres of each other. "Dawn set fire to the floor?"

"Dawn set fire to herself; I set fire to the floor."

"Goddess, I stay upstairs alone for five minutes and I miss all the action," the brunette smirked.

A sly grin appeared slowly onto the red heads face. She pressed her lips back to her girlfriends once before pushing her lover backwards. "Best make our own action then."

Tara giggled but squirmed away from the red heads hands. The red head whined loudly and pressed her face into the blankets next to the older witch; no one knew how to press her buttons like Tara did. The brunette stroked her girlfriend's hair lovingly. "Maybe we should go downstairs."

Willow replied, but her voice was muffled by the quilt. It sounded like a string of curse words, but the red head was far too innocent for that.

/\/\

The girl opened her eyes to a white room. At first she imagined this would be what heaven could be like, but then the too clean smell hit her nose and along with it the beeping sounds of machines and dull voices of doctors and families. Hospitals – she hated hospitals. As the world around her came into focus so did the throbbing pain on her forehead.

"Goddammit ," she cursed. The girl pressed her hand to her forehead and her fingers met the white bandages that covered most of her skin there.

The glass door opened and made her jump back but she soon had her body under control and met the eyes of the doctor with a quiet calm. He smiled warmly at her but it didn't make her feel any more comfortable.

"I'm glad to see you're awake," he said, taking her chart from the end of the bed and flipping through the papers. "Do you know where you are?"

"Well, judging by the white sheets, machines with no snooze buttons and the abundance of Doctors, I'm going to have to say: My Grand-daddy's house," she snorted. The pain in her forehead flared and mad her jerk her hand up to try and relieve it. "Haven't you guys every heard of Morphine?"

He stared at her with a curious expression. When a low growl rumbled in her throat he sighed and quickly keyed a code into one of the machines. Within minutes the pain in her forehead dulled.

"I meant which town, but it's nice to know that duck egg on your face hasn't harmed your sarcasm lobe," he smirked.

She mouthed his words in a mocking sort of way and shrugged. "London?"

Her answer wiped the smile from his face in seconds. He scribbled another note on the clipboard while she waited somewhat impatiently for his reply. The doctor flipped through the pages and the frown lines on his forehead deepened with each piece of paper. She fisted the sheets nervously – was something wrong?

"Can you tell me your name?" he asked after a while.

"After you tell me what's wrong," she snapped.

He swallowed. "You're in Sunnydale, California. You were brought in six hours ago but you were unconscious," he paused, and made another note on the clip board. "Can you tell me your name?"

"California? As in the American California? No way, nu uh… Sunnydale?" Her expression changed from panic to puzzled by the end of her sentence. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to know a Buffy would you?"

"Your name please," he asked for the third time.

She raised an eyebrow and sighed. "Kennedy, Kennedy Williams."

/\/\

Dawn slid through the kitchen door on her socks. She had always thought that wooden floors were far more fun for sliding than walking but Buffy glared disapprovingly every time she saw her do it. The little Summers didn't care though, socks and wooden floors were just too fun.

"Dawn, what are you doing? Don't come crying to me when you fall on your face because I keep telling you, one day you will, and you'll be crying, all over my nice new floor that I made Xander redo – which reminds me…" her sister scolded right on cue. The blonde pushed past Dawn and picked up an apple from the bowl on the table. She tossed it from hand to hand before taking a large bite from it. "…Wanna tell me what happened to the floor?"

The brunette grinned sheepishly. However she didn't answer the slayers question, instead she leant her elbows on the table in front of her sister. "Buffy, I want to go out tonight…"

"No."

"What? I didn't even finish my question!" she pouted. "I was going to say…"

"No."

Dawn scowled and whined and groaned and cursed but Buffy all but ignored the teenager. The slayer took another bite from the apple and gestured to the scorch with it, raising an eyebrow expectantly. The brunette was saved from an undoubtedly long lecture however when Tara and Willow skipped into the kitchen, hands held and arms swinging between them. They were grinning giddily and giggling – barely noticing the sisters.

Buffy cleared her throat and hid her smirk behind the half eaten fruit. The witches jumped and simultaneously snapped to attention. Tara bit her lip when she saw Dawn and colour flushed into her cheeks.

"Hey," Willow smiled.

"Wow, Tara has clothes – who knew?" Dawn winked.

The red head snorted but even she couldn't help but grin. She shrugged when her girlfriend glanced sideways at her.

"So…" Tara coughed. "Nerds; how are them… they?"

Buffy contemplated leaving Tara in the embarrassing situation but then thought better of it. The new topic needed to be talked about, because the nerds were really starting to get on her last nerve. "Will did you get me that list of addresses?"

The red head nodded enthusiastically. "I have them on my laptop… I meant to get them off last night but then… well y'know," she trailed off, her cheeks becoming a rosy colour. Willow was so cute when she blushed.

Dawn rocked on her heels. "Buffy when you go after them, can I….?"

"No," The three women said together.

"Oh come on!" she groaned, storming dramatically from the room. The girls could still here her grumbling down the corridor.

It didn't matter how old Dawn was, to Buffy she would always be the little sister who needed protecting – and to the Wicca's she was a daughter. Besides, trouble seemed to find the teenager so they reasoned she didn't need to go looking for it. The phone interrupted Dawn's muffled complains.

The blonde answered it quickly, before it has rung twice. The phone didn't ring often, and when it did it wasn't usually good news. "Hello?"

The witches waited patiently, they became more and more agitated as the slayers expression dropped to the floor.

"Yeah… yeah I understand, I'll get Willow on it."

"Get Willow on what? What is Willow doing?" the red head squeaked.

Buffy placed the pone down slowly and swallowed hard. "That was Giles," she said. "The council found a way to find out who will be called if I die – or Faith. She… the girl is here in Sunnydale."

Tara tilted her head. "Why is that bad?"

"The council are going to try and kill us."

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

_Previously:_

"_That's Tara's shirt. Why are you wearing Tara's shirt? Is she here? Did you keep it when she… no she took it with her, I remember! She's here, isn't she?" By the time Dawn had finished speaking she was practically vibrating with excitement._

"This is going to ruin the plan!" Mark yelped.

"_Your name please," the doctor asked for the third time._

_She raised an eyebrow and sighed. "Kennedy, Kennedy Williams."_

Buffy placed the phone down slowly and swallowed hard. "That was Giles," she said. "The council found a way to find out who will be called if I die – or Faith. She… the girl is here in Sunnydale. The council are going to try and kill us."

/\/\

"Do you think I could make it land in his mouth?" Andrew asked, gesturing to Jonathon's gaping lips, which were leaking drool down his cheek, with a grape. The small nerd twitched in his sleep. "Warren?"

He didn't reply, in fact he didn't hear the closet case at all. Warren was too busy searching through a third pile of papers – each one covered in cryptic codes and ancient diagrams. The ones he deemed useless were tossed into bucket on the floor, others were placed carefully in a folder. Andrew could just about make out his mutter of 'Slayer' and 'dead'.

The blonde suppressed a shudder, he idolised the guy, but that didn't make him impervious to the scary look he got in his eye when someone wronged him. He turned away and aimed carefully. The grape sailed nicely through the air, and landed with a mute thunk on the floor, three feet away from Jonathon. Andrew sighed dramatically and collapsed into a chair. His eyes were drawn to the papers again, along with Warren panting heavily.

"Warren?"

The nerd slammed his fists on the table. "What?" he growled. Andrew recoiled and tossed the rest of his grapes over his shoulder. Warren raised an eyebrow and gestured with his hand for the blonde nerd to continue.

He swallowed hard. "What are you doing?"

"Solving all of our problems Andy, solving all of our problems," he trailed off, a maniacal grin spreading slowly on his face.

Andrew recoiled but the darker boy had hooked his interest and he was dying to be reeled in. He paused for a moment, studying Warren's features, and watching the beads of sweat roll down his forehead. "The Slayer?"

"The Slayer, Sparky, Spike and anyone else who could stand in our way – in an everything must go, no refunds, big pretty explosion kind of way."

The blonde's lower jaw lay somewhere on the ground. He'd never seen Warren like this. Not when Katrina died or when Jonathon burned the carpet with his disk thing. It was scary in a titillating kind of way. Andrew wiggled in his seat. "Time is the fire of which we burn," he laughed gleefully in a poor attempt of sounding evil.

Warren raised an eyebrow. "Come up with your own lines, don't steal from Star Trek."

/\/\

"They can't kill you, you're the slayer!" Dawn protested.

Willow nodded. "One of two, two slayers - The council are no match for two slayers – we've proved that in the past." The red head laced her fingers between Tara's and her lover squeezed her hand in an attempt to comfort her.

The slayer wrinkled her nose and began pacing, carefully avoiding the burn mark on the floor. "I think our first priority should be finding that girl – Giles said her name was Kennedy," she looked pointedly at her best friend. Buffy didn't need to say anything, Willow knew what she wanted.

"Kennedy what?" she asked.

"He didn't say."

Dawn waved her hands, drawing everyone's attention to her. "What about the killing part? I'm pretty sure that should be high up on our list don't you think? You've already died twice…"

"But I came back," Buffy pointed out. "Twice."

"Third time unlucky then, I don't want to test how angry we can make nature before it kicks our butts," the tall brunette argued back.

Tara stayed silent until then, her face lit up and her eyes sparkled with knowledge that she knew no one else had clicked onto yet. She tugged on Willow's arm and whispered into her ear so the arguing sisters couldn't hear. The red head squealed in excitement and beamed at the slayer.

"There're only two slayers!" she said as if it explained everything. The Summers raised their eyebrows together, waiting for her to continue, but the red head was too busy smiling.

A kind smile tugged at Tara's mouth. "You've died twice Buffy, yet there is only one other slayer."

"Exactly, when you died the first time Kendra was called," Willow continued. "When Kendra died Faith was called."

Tara nodded. "But when you died the second time no one else was called Buffy."

The Wicca's grinned widely, but it was clear that the Summers girls were still confused. Willow pursed her lips – there had to be a better way of explaining it. Giles was always better at explaining things.

"Your death won't call another slayer – only Faith's will," Tara said slowly. Buffy nodded. "Because no one was called the second time you died."

Dawn frowned. "How do we know?"

No one seemed to hear her however. Willow stuck her tongue between her teeth and squeezed her girlfriend's hand. The pair looked at each other, their eyes lighting up the instant they met. Buffy didn't realise how much she missed seeing Willow so happy.

The blonde picked up the apple from beside the phone and threw it from hand to hand, dodging the scorch carefully – a smile plastered on her face. "You're right!" She tossed the apple into the air, caught it neatly in her left hand and took another mouthful. "And here, I was under the illusion that the council knew everything."

The brunette Summers stomped her foot on the floor. "How do we know there isn't a third slayer?"

Tara was the only one who heard the Dawn, Buffy and Willow were playing catch with the apple. Twice the slayer put a little too much power behind the throw and made the red headed ex-Wicca squeal and duck. The older witch stepped away from the imminent wrestling match and pulled the young girl over to the other side of the breakfast bar. She brushed some of Dawn's long shiny hair back out of her eyes.

"What do you mean sweetie?" she asked, keeping a wary eye on the best friends – Willow threw the apple and dived for Buffy's midsection while her hands were out of the way.

"Just because a third slayer hasn't shown up doesn't mean there isn't one," she sighed. Buffy sidestepped and the red head soared past, saved only by the slayer's quick reflexes that grabbed her by the upper arm.

Tara tilted her head. A high pitched squeal pierced the air and the girl's heads snapped round to see Buffy holding Willow inches from the floor by her ankles. The red head was struggling wildly, her face turning scarlet. "Do they always do this?"

Dawn twitched her nose. "It's their new way of cheering each other up when something goes wrong it… it happened a lot after you were gone."

The Wicca grimaced and wrapped an arm around the brunette's waist. "I'm sorry Dawnie, I never meant to hurt anyone."

"I know. It's twenty-five – one to Buffy."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Kennedy rolled her shoulders and pushed open the door to the hospital lobby. The doctors had been all too willing to let her leave after she'd argued with them for half an hour. Personally, she didn't care how dark the bruise around her eye was, or how large the lump on her forehead was – she wanted out. An old, tired looking nurse sat behind a desk opposite the front door. Her shirt was far too tight and you could see each roll of fat beneath the thin cotton. The girl wrinkled her nose and tip-toed forward – the eerie silence of the room was creeping her out big time.

"Excuse me?" she ventured. The nurse ignored her. "Hey!"

The woman looked up, blinked and then set down her magazine. "Yes?"

Kennedy rolled her eyes. "Buffy Summers, I need to find her."

A flash of recognition flashed across the nurse's face but it soon vanished, in its place a stern expression appeared. "That's private information."

The girl drummed her fingers on the desk and sucked in a lung full of air through her nose. She could feel her headache returning, and the nurse's stubbornness was only going to add to the pain. "Look, the quicker you tell me where she is the quicker I'll leave; it's a win-win situation."

"I can't tell you…"

"You are about this close," Kennedy held her thumb and forefinger a centimetre apart. "From me just taking your computer and finding the information out for myself," The nurse raised an eyebrow and the girl watched the large woman's hand move beneath the desk. "Do not press that security button."

The doors burst open behind her and three large muscled men in blue uniforms strode forward. Kennedy sighed. The first man reached forward but the girl dodged out of his grasp and ran for the door. She blew a kiss as she left; mentally cursing whoever has gotten her into this situation. Her attention was soon grasped by oncoming traffic that was speeding toward her. On instinct she threw herself backwards and landed on her back on the pavement, the air gushed from her lungs.

"I hate America," she panted.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The magic box looked cold and empty from the outside, the sight chilled Xander to the bone. It was nothing like the ache in his heart – so much so that he barely felt anything else. Closing the shop meant it was really over, the Anya he knew would rather die than miss out on a chance to make money. Xander rolled his shoulders and closed his eyes.

"How did things get so messed up," he mumbled.

He pushed off the wall and turned his back on the Magic Box. Though he had hoped to see Anya at the store, there was a part of him that knew it was a futile gesture - next on the list, showing his face to the rest of the gang. The Summers house wasn't far, yet it felt like the longest distance he'd ever had to travel. All you had to do was turn right at the end of the road, take the second left and then it was the fifth house on the right. Simple.

Xander made it to the end of the road when someone came barrelling into him. "What the…?"

The girl coughed and rolled onto her back. In a flash she was up on her feet, but she didn't speak or offer him a hand to get up. Instead she watched him warily and bounced lightly from one foot to the other – the way Buffy did when she was facing a vampire. He blinked and pushed himself into a sitting position with one arm.

"Don't get me wrong here," he said. "I'm used to girls jumping at me, but they don't usually look ready to kill me afterwards – actually no, that's a lie."

She snorted and smirked. Xander got to his feet and looked the girl up and down, her features had relaxed but her hands stayed slightly raised.

"Wanna tell me your name? What are you running from?" he tried again, attempting to coax a sound from her.

"I'm not running from anything," she replied coldly.

Xander held up his hands in surrender. "Okay then, I'll be on my way."

The brunette flared her nostrils. "Before you go, do you know where I can find Buffy Summers?"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Giles punched the stolen codes into their respective locks until each one snapped open. After looking over each shoulder twice, and then again, he yanked them open and began to thumb through the pages. The first few had nothing of interest to him, however the closer he got to the bottom of the drawer the more and more worried he became.

"Oh bugger."

A sound in the hallway made him jump and smack his knee into the corner of the desk. He stifled a yelp into his sleeve and listened carefully. The footsteps were getting louder. Quickly he chose a few random pages and folded them into the pocket of his tweed jacket - just as the door to the study opened Giles disappeared through the window.

"I'm getting fair too old for this," he growled as he climbed the last few feet onto the flat roof and then through a second window into the main building.

"Giles!" someone called.

He started and turned on his heel. "Yes Abigail?" He hoped she wouldn't notice the nervous twitch in his hands. To steady them he slid his glasses off his nose and cleaned them with a hanky. The seemingly random visits he got from an assortment of watcher employees were becoming suspicious – he knew Trenton was watching him. It surprised him that he was allowed in the council at all.

"Trenton wants you in his office, now."

"Wonderful, I'll just be a second."

Giles ducked into his room and emptied the contents of his pocket into the drawer under his bed. Then he straightened his jacket and cleaned his glasses once more on his handkerchief for good measure. Then he opened his door with a smile and followed Abigail back down the hallway.

Trenton's office wasn't far and Giles knew it was only because no one trusted him. Since he'd turned his back on the Watchers in favour of playing a father to his slayer, they had been less than accommodating. The amount of strings he had to pull just to get in the building – he didn't like thinking about the new phone bill he had. Abigail led him right to the door before bowing out and allowing him to go in alone. He knocked twice and was granted entrance by a short gruff command. "Enter."

He pushed the door gently, and then with more force when the hinges stuck. Trenton had his back to him and was scribbling something down in a book, but he didn't focus on that. Instead he felt his eyes drawn to the vampire sitting with her legs crossed and her arms shackled to the armrest. She looked bored with her fingers tapping the wood.

"How did you…?" Giles breathed. He knew this vampire.

"I don't think I need to bother with introductions do I Rupert? I remember your reports on your encounters with the other dimensional vampires," Trenton shared a small smile. He locked the book in a drawer under the desk and turned to face the stunned man. "I want you to take her to Sunnydale, and you will do it," he said. "She's going to get my slayer back for me."

She scoffed and mouthed his words, rolling her eyes and tugging lightly at the chains. "Whatever."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Xander poked his head around the Summers door and glanced around. He could hear the gang, but none of them were in sight, slowly he pushed the door further, fully intent of entering the house secretly – until Kennedy barged past him and into the hallway. She turned a full circle until she was facing him again.

"So this is the house of the slayer," she commented, hands on her hips. "It's… not what I expected."

He raised an eyebrow. "What were you expecting?" Xander closed the door carefully behind him. Now that they were inside they could clearly hear movement in the kitchen.

Kennedy sniffed and gestured toward the noise. "That way?"

He nodded mutely, and watched as the confident brunette strode through the archway. A part of him knew he should follow and explain why a strange girl was in the house, but another louder part wanted to keep his feet firmly rooted to the spot – it had no desire to see everyone else. Briefly he wondered if Anya was here, but almost immediately he knew she wasn't. Why would she be? Images of the empty store began to swim behind his eyes. He shuddered.

The noise from the kitchen cut out abruptly after a loud thud. Xander gritted his teeth and rolled his shoulders, before striding forward and casually walking into the room with the others. The sight that met his eyes made him double take. Willow in a heap on the floor, rubbing her forehead – presumable the source of the thud. Dawn stood protectively in front of Tara, the fact she was even here caused a mix of confusion, happiness and embarrassment to stir in Xander's stomach. What drew his attention the most however was Buffy with her arm held up to the brunettes throat, effectively pinning her against the wall.

"Buffy!" He yelped. "Let her go!"

Every head except Kennedy's turned to look at him. Willow broke into a grin and hugged him around the waist, quickly followed by Dawn. Buffy smiled warmly but didn't move, while Tara smiled shyly and nodded her head.

"Girl… pinned… to… wall," the brunette coughed.

Xander stepped out of the girl's grips, glad that they hadn't shunned him. "Buffy, let the girl down… please."

The slayer lowered her arm slowly and the girl dropped the few centimetres to the floor. She doubled over, clutching her throat and coughing. Everyone waited for an explanation, but Xander simply shrugged his shoulders. "I ran into her, literally, and she said she was looking for you."

"Kennedy," she gasped, rubbing her rapidly reddening neck.

"What did you say?" Willow asked, wincing and touching the cream skin on her own throat.

Kennedy straightened. She had everyone's eyes on her but acted as though she was alone in the room – taking her time to smooth her clothes and brush her hair out of her eyes. Buffy cleared her throat and made her look up.

"Going out on a limb and saying that Blondie here is one Miss Buffy Summers?" She asked calmly.

The slayer raised an eyebrow. "Did you say your name was Kennedy?"

Tara stepped out from behind the counter and went to Willow's side. There was something about the girl that made her feel uncomfortable her. She laced her fingers between the redheads and offered a small smile when Willow raised her eyebrows in question. Kennedy watched the small display before turning her attention back to the slayer.

"Kennedy Williams, I'd offer you my hand but I'm afraid you might try and rip it off. Do you always treat guests this way?"

"Usually," Buffy smirked. Her expression turned though when the situation caught up with her. "What are you doing here?"

"I was hoping you could tell me."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Giles shuffled uncomfortably in the airplane seat. He could feel the vampire's eyes digging blood filled holes in the side of his neck, but it was worse when he was facing her. Her eyes were soulless, nothing like the girl he knew back in Sunnydale, it didn't matter what magic she did, there was always that tiny flicker of humanity there. Not in the vampire. Vampire Willow made her breathing just loud enough for him to hear, even though she didn't need the oxygen, and watched in delight as the hairs rose on the back of his neck. It didn't matter that she was chained to the chair and surrounded by three rings of holy water, he was terrified.

"I haven't fed in so long," she cooed. "Waiting for the Master's big surprise, we weren't allowed to sample."

Giles swallowed, he didn't know of the other dimension, but there was no desire to. "Didn't the council feed you?"

"No," she sighed. "One minute I was there at my master's side, the next _poof _and I'm sitting at the feet of a douche in a tweed jacket."

The description made Giles chuckle, but he soon caught himself and squared his shoulders. "Be quiet."

She whimpered mockingly. "Oh, you're so scary. I feel as though I've been here before."

"You have," Giles replied. "We stopped you then, and we'll stop you now."

"Why don't you just stake me now, I'm all lonely and tied to a chair, even you could take me," she giggled. "But you won't, big bad English man won't kill his darling Willow – no matter what form she's in."

He ground his teeth together and span toward her and out of his chair. She was sitting with her legs casually crossed at the ankles. The chain wrapped around her wrists and fingers, moving like liquid over her cream skin. Giles almost felt like tearing the blinds from the windows and ending it right there and then, but the way she smiled was so familiar, it almost hurt to think of killing her. He thought of his conversation with the witch before he left, the idea that she may go too far was never far from the front of his mind. _Buffy's a hero, she's not like us _he had said, a killer, always.

"Strike a nerve?" she asked, looking out from under her eyelids at him.

He whipped his glassed off his nose and wiped them on the corner of his jacket. This was going to be a long flight.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"This is what we need," Warren explained, pointing to the diagram on the table. Jonathon and Andrew looked carefully over his shoulders. "I read somewhere that a vampire cult called _The Order of Krypton _has it, and they just happen to be in Sunnydale."

"Don't you hate how everything just _happens _to be in Sunnydale," Jonathon mumbled.

Warren snorted. "Cheer up Sparky, we fetch the disc, we get the balls, we become super heroes and kill Buffy, win-win."

Andrew giggled and the other two raised their eyebrows at him. "You said balls," he smirked.

Their faces dropped and they rolled their eyes. Warren turned back to the plans and began scanning them one last time before they went to fetch the disc. He smiled to himself and folded it neatly into the drawer. "Let's go."

/\/\/\/\/\/\

The night air felt fresh on Buffy's face. She had needed to get out of the house. Willow had tried to get in contact with Giles, but no matter what she tried she couldn't get in touch with him, it was almost like he had disappeared off the face of the planet. It worried her, but what really annoyed her was the attitude of their new potential slayer. Her friends thought she was funny, Tara and Buffy had thought she was irritating. The blonde had offered for Tara to come out with her, but she had politely refused and glued herself back to the red heads side.

She was just about to leave her fourth graveyard when she was caught off-guard by a large man-shaped demon crashing into her. The vampire growled low in his throat and flipped onto his feet. Buffy just managed to scramble out of his way and get back onto her feet when a second vampire ran round the corner and tripped over the uneven ground. She swung her leg round and caught the first in the side of the head, sending him crashing to the floor. Something large and round clattered to the floor, but she ignored it.

Buffy span round to look for the second vampire, only to see him being held by the collar four feet off the ground; her eyes followed him up to see a platinum haired vampire grinning down at her like a child in a sweet store. She sighed and ducked just in time to dodge the first vampires arm before swinging her leg round and sending him crashing back down to the floor.

"What are you doing here?" She asked sharply.

His grin fell. "I'm helping, just thought I'd take this one out for you. Sure he doesn't look like much, but I reckon he could give you some trouble like."

She looked at him blankly. The first vampire came up behind her and wrapped his thin arms around her shoulders. Buffy tugged at his grip but it wouldn't come loose. He inched closer to her neck. In one swift move she went slack, bringing his head closer before slamming her head back into his jaw. The vampire howled and let go long enough for Buffy to tug her stake loose and stab it neatly through his heart. The vampire was cut off mid-growl as his body disintegrated to dust.

Spike shuffled. "Want me to let him go?"

"Whatever you want," she replied coolly. The vampire struggled wildly, swinging his legs in the air and clutching at his throat.

He smirked. "How about I don't let him go if you tell your friends about us?"

"There neither is, nor was, an 'us' to tell them about, but if you want to do it so bad go ahead. I'll tell you what though, I tried to kill my friends last week and guess how much they hate me? Zero, Zero much," she spat.

Buffy turned away from the two vampires and began striding toward the exit. Spike dropped the vampire and swung his legs over the edge of the statue, watching as the vampire ran toward the blonde. "Then why won't you sleep with me again?"

This made the pair spin round, the look of utter confusion written all over the vampires face. Buffy scowled and staked him in one quick move, before turning back around. "I don't love you."

Spike waited until she was out of ear shot. "Like hell," he mumbled.

The lonely vampire jumped down quietly and stuffed his hands into his pockets. He began to wander back in the general direction of his crypt. He was sure that Buffy felt something for him, in the same way he was sure that blood is life and that the sun will burn the skin from his bones. If she refused to feel it he was going to have to make her feel it. Yeah, she'll feel it.

**Thoughts? Comments? I know the timelines might cross a little over the last few episodes of season six but it is strictly for plotline purposes. Review 3**


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